I have uploaded the new map conversion utility. As mentioned in this forum, this utility is used to convert between old zMUD (and CMUD 2.x and prior) *.MDB map databases and the new CMUD v3 *.DBM SQLite map database. You can convert in either direction. In fact, you can even convert to the same format type to effectively compress a map file. I know my old Aardwolf *.MDB map went from 41MB down to 8MB.

Please post to this thread if you have a map file that will not convert properly. I'll probably also need you to email any map file that fails to sales@zuggsoft.com so I can try it here. Please test as many map files as you can over the next week so I can put this conversion algorithm into the next CMUD beta release.

Note that this is a ZIP archive containing a single *.EXE program. No installer is needed. Just copy the MapConvert.exe file to the same directory that contains your CMUD.EXE file. The only other files needed by this program is the SQLITE3.DLL file that you should already have in your CMUD directory. If you don't have SQLITE3.DLL, I have included a copy in the MapConvert zip archive. Then just run the MapConvert.exe program. The user interface should be simple and self-explanatory.

Feel free to post suggestions for improvements or other bugs to this CMUD Beta Forum. Keep in mind that the Pro version of MapConvert will have lots of other features, such as map merging, specific zone copying, etc. But I don't plan to have time to work on the Pro version for a while yet. So try to keep your suggestions related to this simple Free map conversion utility.

Last edited by Zugg on Tue May 11, 2010 10:52 pm; edited 4 times in total

Hmm sofar so good, it converts pretty fast, have 2-3 maps no problems.

My main map lost.. about 10-15% of it's total size so thats good. but it's just about the same as what using sqlite administrator on the db file and using the cleanup command does.

Will keep using the converted map see if i have any problems.

_________________"To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories: (1) things that need to be fixed, and (2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them" - Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

I will post an update to this program next week to fix some of the "DOFUS" issues reported in the other thread. The new 3.13 version of CMUD is now using this new algorithm, so please report any map conversion problems (in new threads).

Nope, the beta version of CMud only converted from zmud format to the beta .dbm format. There was no way to convert back to zmud format, which means sharing new zones and such with people using the older format meant you had to go through the trouble of making those modifications a second time.

Essentially, there's no more reason--from the perspective of mapping--to actually even use zmud 7.21 or CMud 2.37. All of the tools that are available to those programs are now accessible by the beta version of CMud. Once those tools are upgraded to work directly with the CMud beta (and mind you, it will no longer be in beta at that point), even this utility won't be needed.

The converter does have extra benefits, though, in that it can fix problems being generated by mapdata. Not only does this make Cmud more stable, but the converter gives us a way to fix mapfile problems without having to start over with a new map.

There is currently a bug when trying to convert from the same type to the same type. The point of that would be to rebuilt the database, sort of like the Compress option in zMapper. So it's definitely a potentially useful option once the bug is fixed.

And yes, as Matt said, the main point of this conversion program is to go from the CMUD v3 map format BACK to the CMUD v2 (and zMUD) map format so that people can still use zMapper. It's a bit of a pain to convert from new DBM to old MDB, then run zMapper, then convert from old MDB to new DBM whenever you want to make a change using zMapper, but at least it's possible and zMapper users won't have to wait an indefinite period until a CMapper program is written (which will probably be a while given so many other things with higher priority).

And yes, as Matt said, the main point of this conversion program is to go from the CMUD v3 map format BACK to the CMUD v2 (and zMUD) map format so that people can still use zMapper

I didn't even think about this use case. That's awesome! I'm a map junkie and have been wanting to spruce up my maps (with more than just background color for different room types etc) for a long while now!

Going to download zMapper just to check it out first but if it works as well as it seems for that price I really can't say no if I can use it for my Cmud maps with the conversion program.

Confirmed the error. Something got screwed up at the last minute with the file path routine. I'll release a new version next week. Sorry I didn't test this more...I just recompiled it with the new 3.16 algorithm and forgot that the Map Conversion program was passing the wrong path information compared to CMUD.

Thanks for the update, it works great. I should have clarified my earlier post regarding the problem with the .zip archive. WinRAR 3.80 would complain about an unexpected end of archive upon opening it, but still extracted the files. Updating to WinRAR 3.93 solved this minor issue.

OK, I just used the normal Windows "Sent to zip archive" function and uploaded a new copy. However, I would start investigating any possible download managers or other software that might be getting in the way of this. Maybe your browser is downloading the zip file in text mode instead of binary more or something like that. I just downloaded it with Firefox and opened it without any problems here.

Is there a way to tell which mode is being used? I pored through the options in IE7 and Firefox and didn't see anything relevant, and as far as I can tell there's nothing that might be fiddling with downloads. I certainly haven't installed any downloading-related plugins or extensions, so unless Shockwave or Itunes or Adobe Acrobat is interfering I'm not sure where to even begin.

If you have trouble downloading the new file and are getting a corrupted file error, I had the same problem but clearing my browser cache fixed it. The file on the server is fine, but somehow your web browser isn't downloading it correctly. In Firefox I went to Tools/Options, selected the Advanced tab and then the Network tab and clicked the Clear Now button for offline storage. That fixed it here. Not sure about other browsers.

Not sure why we keep having trouble with this specific file whereas the regular CMUD files always work just fine.